On-line government means no more lines
by Yehezkel Laing
September 14, 2003
http://www.jpost.com
Imagine no more waiting in line at the Interior Ministry for a
passport, or no more filling out dozens of pages of income tax forms.
If Meir Sheetrit, minister-without-portfolio in the Treasury,
has his way, all major transactions between the government and
its citizens will be carried out by computer within three years.
Currently Israel is considered seventh in the world in what is
known as "e-government." Sheetrit said the new computerization
could make us No. 1.
His scheme is made up of two plans: Merkava and Government On-line.
The Merkava plan is intended to unify and standardize all government
computer systems. In the past 20 years all government ministries
have computerized, but this was done separately so there is little
connection between the various ministries' networks and
no standardization.
"Today there is a Tower of Babel of digital systems which are all
incapable of communicating with each other," Sheetrit told The
Jerusalem Post. The Merkava plan will unify all ministry systems
under a single unified portal. The portal will offer a single
source for such things as manpower, budgeting, and equipment
requisition.
As an example of the benefits to be reaped from Merkava, Sheetrit
mentions government tenders. "Today, when 10 different ministries
buy chairs or computers they buy them all separately at different
prices. This is illogical." We should be buying in bulk, he said,
for a single low price. "The government spends NIS 30 billion a
year on supplies and raw materials. Even if this method saves
10 percent of that it will provide immediate savings of NIS 3b."
Under Government On-line, the majority of government services
will be available via the Internet. The Income Tax Authority,
National Insurance Institute, the Land Registry (Tabu), and the
Property Tax Authority will all be available on one site.
Already many government forms are available on-line, such as
those for a passport. These can be printed, filled out, and sent
from home without actually visiting the ministry and waiting in
line for service. The government already has an on-line transaction
site up located at www.first.gov.il, which offers links to all
other government on-line sites.
According to Sheetrit, 13% of government payments can already be
made via the Internet, such as VAT and traffic tickets using
credit cards. "The government already takes in a billion shekels
a month via the Internet. This comes to NIS 12b. a year submitted
without the need for a single clerk," Sheetrit said. He expects
this amount to grow quickly in the next few months. Soon, said
Sheetrit, all government charges such as income tax or driver's
licenses will be payable on-line. Citizens will also be able to
see everything they owe on a single screen.
To enable use of the Government On-line system, citizens are
to be issued with digital identity cards. Using technology from
Hewlett Packard, the cards will contain all of a person's major
personal information. It will also include their driver's license
and an electronic signature. The card will be recognizable by
every government computer.
Citizens without Internet access, said Sheetrit, will not be
left out. The government will have some 10 computer centers
spread throughout the country where free access will be provided.
To these will be added the 45 Tapuah computer centers, which have
100 computers each. Tapuah is a public organization offering
free computer courses.
The first three ministries to be standardized and put on-line
are the Science, Justice, and Finance ministries. Sheetrit
promises that security will be 100 percent. To insure this a
special project called Tehilla is to be launched which is to
guard against abuse.
The entire project is expected to take three years to complete
and cost NIS 300m. Best of all, says Sheetrit, the government
will not need to budget any money to pay for it. "The money will
be taken from the existing development funds of each ministry,"
he said.
Sheetrit can barely hide his enthusiasm for the project.
"After this is completed we are going to ask ourselves how we
ever got along without it."